aes vs ake, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“aes” is a noun and “ake” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,806
“aes” frequency rank: #46,292
“ake” frequency rank: 75098
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	aes	ake
Definition	plural of a, the name of the letter A.	Obsolete spelling of ache.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aes and ake apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

aes

3 ch

ake

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aes is /ˈeɪz/ while ake is /eɪk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75098, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aes is recorded at frequency rank #28,806, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈeɪz/. ake is at rank #46,292, tagged as averb, pronounced /eɪk/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 75098, this pair ranks #34,204 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aes vs ake

Shared letters: ae. Private to "aes": s. Private to "ake": k.

"aes" · 3 letters · shape VVC · "ake" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequency comparison

aes#28,806

ake#46,292

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aes" and "ake" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aes" is a noun and "ake" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "aes" or "ake"?

"aes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,806 in our English list, against #46,292 for "ake". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering aes vs ake

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “aes”; for a verb, it's “ake”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “aes” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable